As Lakers close in on sequence, Warriors lean on experience

The Golden State Warriors will go to a spot they’ve been twice earlier than in the Steve Kerr teaching period once they search to stave off elimination in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal sequence towards the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night time in San Francisco

Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV gave LeBron James and Anthony Davis the kind of supporting solid Stephen Curry did not get from his extra extremely regarded teammates when the Lakers snatched a 104-101 dwelling win in Game 4 on Monday to go up 3-1 in the best-of-seven sequence

The second straight win introduced the Lakers to inside one recreation of their first enterprise to the Western Finals since 2020 and their first in a non-bubble season since 2010. The Lakers went on to the NBA title in 2020

Reaves (21 factors) outscored and significantly outplayed counterpart Klay Thompson (9 factors), whereas Walker saved all 15 of his factors for a difference-making fourth quarter, serving to to place the Lakers in a commanding place

“The job’s not finished,” Reaves mentioned afterward. “We come back on (Wednesday) and try to win that one. Keep the same mindset (that) it’s not the first one to win one game, it’s the first four. We gotta keep a good mindset moving forward and stay locked in.”

It is a strong plan, particularly towards the playoff-tested Warriors, who took a been-there, done-that method for a must-win Game 7 on the street at Sacramento in the primary spherical. Golden State performed its finest recreation of that sequence, using Stephen Curry’s 50 factors to a convincing 120-100 victory

The Warriors, who’ve gained 19 consecutive sequence towards Western competitors since Kerr turned coach in 2015, have skilled 3-1 deficits twice in the final seven years

They overcame Kevin Durant’s 40 factors to win 120-111 at dwelling over Oklahoma City in Game 5 in 2016, triggering a run of three consecutive victories that despatched them to the NBA Finals.

Three years later, they wanted a Game 5 win at Toronto in order to remain alive in the Finals, which they acquired behind Curry’s 31 factors. But Thompson went down with a knee damage in Game 6 and the Raptors claimed the championship with a 114-110 win.

Kerr insisted his guys — led by the veteran core of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green — embrace the one-game-at-a-time idea higher than anybody left standing.

“Go home and you take care of business and you get a win and the momentum is right back in your favor. That’s all it is,” Kerr mentioned. “Somebody has to win four times. That’s why you play it out.

“The Lakers did a fantastic job of holding serve (at dwelling), profitable (Game 4) and coming again in the fourth quarter to take it. So now we have to return and get a win at dwelling.

The groups break up the primary two video games in San Francisco, placing the Lakers in a place of profitable two straight at dwelling to go up 3-1

Fresh off a better win in the opening spherical (in a six-game sequence towards the Memphis Grizzlies), the seventh-seeded Lakers stole the home-court benefit with a 117-112 win in Game 1. Anthony Davis set the tone for Los Angeles’ inside superiority in the sequence with 30 factors and 23 rebounds

Thompson, a Los Angeles-area native, got here up massive in Game 2, making eight 3-pointers in a 30-point efficiency that ignited a 127-100 victory.

Thompson could not duplicate that kind in Los Angeles, totaling 24 factors in the 2 losses whereas making simply eight of his 25 pictures.

–Field Level Media